


Keep My Head Above Water

by arysa13



Series: Two Week Challenge - Round Two [6]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Rescue, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 15:51:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18369179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arysa13/pseuds/arysa13
Summary: Bellamy runs Clarke a bath, and she almost drowns in it.for the prompt “passing out after taking a long bath and having your bff secret crush break down the door to rescue you”





	Keep My Head Above Water

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not really sure I did this prompt justice, but I have to post it or fail my challenge lmao

Bellamy has been doing everything he can to make Clarke’s life easier these past few weeks. He knows she’s under a huge amount of pressure at work, and she comes home every night exhausted. Plus, she’s dealing with her mom going into rehab for the second time. Which is a good thing, really, but Bellamy knows Clarke feels guilty that she hadn’t noticed Abby was back on the pills.

Clarke hasn’t really been herself lately. She’s totally drained, both physically and emotionally. Bellamy wants to tell her to take some time off for the sake of her mental health, but he knows she’s too stubborn for that. And she won’t hear of taking it easier at work, or giving her mom some space.

Bellamy feels totally helpless. He makes dinner for her every night, and tries to do more than his share of the cleaning in the apartment they share. But he feels like it’s not enough.

He has an idea to try and force her to relax for an hour or so. See, if she thinks he’s gone to a lot of effort to do something for her, she’ll feel obliged to humour him, just to make him feel better. He feels a _little_ guilty for tricking her into it, but it’s a necessary evil. It’s for a good cause.

She gets home just before six, dumping her things by the door and kicking off her shoes with a groan. “Is it Friday yet?” she asks.

“Not yet,” Bellamy says. Clarke eyes him suspiciously. To be fair, he has been standing around waiting for her, that’s pretty clear. And he probably has a somewhat self-satisfied smirk on his face.

“What are you up to?” she asks.

“Just—come with me,” he says. He tilts his head towards the bathroom. Clarke still looks thoroughly wary of him, but she follows him to the bathroom. He pushes the door open. His eyes are on Clarke, watching her reaction as she takes in the sight before her.

The bathroom is dark, lit only by the nine candles Bellamy had managed to gather from friends and neighbours. The bath is full, almost overflowing with bubbles, and on top of the bubbles, rose petals are scattered. The scent of jasmine fills the air. His Bluetooth speaker softly plays gentle acoustic music. Clarke looks stunned. She turns to him, cheeks pink.

“You did this for me?”

Bellamy shrugs, like it’s not a big deal. Which it isn’t. “Yeah. You need to relax.”

Clarke bites her lip. “I guess I could. Just for like… twenty minutes.”

“Take as long as you need.”

Clarke looks back to the bath. “It looks so romantic. All I need is some champagne and someone to share it with.” She glances at him, and Bellamy quickly looks away. No need for her to know he’d very much like to be the person she shares it with. Besides, this is just for her.

“But then you’d have to share,” he says. “Go on. I’ll make dinner. I’ll come check on you in an hour.”

Clarke gives him a wry smile. “I doubt I’ll be that long.” She steps into the bathroom, and Bellamy closes the door behind her, leaving her to it.

He makes dinner, taking his time, feeling pleased with himself knowing that he finally got Clarke to take a break. And she’s definitely been in there longer than twenty minutes. Maybe he can get her to do this every week.

When dinner is ready, he goes back to the bathroom to let her know. He knocks gently on the door, trying not to startle her and ruin all her relaxation time.

“Clarke,” he calls. “Dinner’s ready. You don’t have to eat now if you don’t want to, I’m just letting you know.” No answer. “Clarke?” he calls again. Anxiety builds in his stomach. “Clarke, just answer me so I know you’re okay in there.” His words are met with silence. “Clarke.”

He’s really worried now. He knows the music isn’t loud enough for her not to hear him. He debates whether or not to break the door down. Every horrible possibility flashes through his mind. And yet, he’s aware that if he’s misread the situation and she’s fine, it’s going to be extremely awkward and embarrassing.

“Fuck it,” he mutters. He can deal with awkward and embarrassing. He can’t deal with anything bad happening to Clarke. He slams his body weight against the door. He feels it give a little, and he rams himself against it again. He’s never been so thankful to be living in such an old apartment. With a final kick, the lock breaks off and the door swings open.

Bellamy’s eyes fly to the bathtub, and he immediately sees that Clarke has sunk down in the tub, face half submerged. He’s sure if she was conscious, she would have noticed the door being kicked in. Panicked, Bellamy flies to her side, his knees hitting the tiles hard. He plunges his arms into the warm water, hooking them underneath Clarke’s armpits and dragging her out of the water, out of the tub, pulling her into his arms. Water splashes out of the bath and all over the floor.

Clarke wakes up immediately, inhaling dramatically, and she’s breathing, thank god. Bellamy’s heart is still racing as he holds her wet, naked body to his chest.

“What happened?” Clarke says, her breathing ragged.

“Fuck, Clarke,” Bellamy swears. “Clarke. You’re okay. You fell asleep. You could’ve drowned. God, this is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Clarke says. Clarke pulls away from him and he lets her go. He’s suddenly aware of how naked she is, and he quickly averts his eyes before he can see more than he’s meant to. His face burns. He reaches up and tugs a towel from the towel rack and hands it to her. “This is so embarrassing,” Clarke mutters, wrapping the towel around herself. Bellamy glances at her. It’s hard to tell in the dim candlelight, but he thinks she might be blushing too.

“I didn’t see anything, I promise.”

Clarke puts a hand over her face. “Not that. The fact that you tried to do a nice thing for me and I fell asleep in the bath and nearly drowned. Not exactly my finest moment.”

“Clarke, there’s no need to be embarrassed. I’m just glad you’re okay. If anything ever happened to you…” he trails off, just the thought of it making him sick to his stomach.

Clarke glances past him, taking in the door for the first time. “Did you break down the door?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Bellamy says, looking a little sheepish. “And I’d do it again. Are you okay?”

Clarke nods. “A little lightheaded.”

“I’m so sorry,” Bellamy says again. He feels so guilty that he basically forced her to do this, and then she almost fucking died. He’s an idiot.  

“Bellamy, stop,” Clarke says. She smiles, just slightly. “You saved me.”

“Wouldn’t have had to if I hadn’t made you take a bath in the first place,” he mutters.

“I really enjoyed it, up until, you know, the almost drowning,” she grins. Bellamy snorts out a laugh.

“Maybe you were right, maybe you did need someone to share it with,” he says. Clarke stares at him, eyes wide. He realises what she thinks he means, and he hurries to clarify. “Not me! I mean, that’s not what I was suggesting,” he says, his face growing hot again. “I just meant it would have been…safer,” he says lamely.

“Oh,” Clarke drops her head, embarrassed. Almost… disappointed? “No, I didn’t think—I mean, maybe for a second.” She swallows, then looks up at him again.

Bellamy hesitates. “I mean, I wouldn’t say no. If, you know. You wanted someone. And you wanted that someone to be me. Just to look out for you. Make sure you don’t drown.”

“I think I need that,” she says hurriedly. “If I’m going to make this bath thing a regular occurrence.”

Bellamy stares at her, heart in his throat. She’s looking back at him, anxious, waiting for him to say something.

“You know that means we’d have to be naked. At the same time. Together. In the bath.”

Clarke nods. “I know. I think I’d like that very much.”

“Me too.”

“Okay.”

“Clarke—” Bellamy doesn’t get another word out before Clarke is surging forward to kiss him, swallowing whatever it was he was going to say next. Her kiss is nervous and rushed and desperate at the same time. He kisses her back, slowing it down, letting his tongue move against hers almost reassuringly.

She pulls away, looking shy but pleased. Bellamy’s heart is so full he thinks it might pop. “Well,” he says. He clears his throat. “We did that.”

“We did,” Clarke agrees.

“I feel like I should say… I have feelings for you. Definitely not friendship related feelings. In case that wasn’t clear.”

“Thank you for clearing that up,” Clarke laughs. “And I have I guess similar feelings for you,” she whispers, leaning in to kiss him again, softly this time. They both duck their heads shyly, in unison. Bellamy can’t quite believe this is happening. He’s been on a rollercoaster of emotions in the last ten minutes. Now _he’s_ feeling a little lightheaded.

“Anyway,” he says. “I just came in here to tell you that dinner’s ready. And that we need to get the bathroom door fixed.”

Clarke laughs. “Okay. Let me get dressed and then we can eat. And then maybe you want to kiss me some more?”

“I definitely want to do that.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.” Bellamy grins, and he gets up, then helps Clarke to her feet while she clutches the towel to her chest.

“Bell? Thank you. For doing this for me. For everything you’ve done for me lately. Things have been crazy and… I’m glad I have you. You keep me sane.”

“It’s nothing, Clarke,” Bellamy says. “I know you’d do the same for me.”

Clarke nods, a soft smile on her face. They steal glances at each other as Clarke heads to her bedroom and Bellamy goes back to the kitchen. He’s back to feeling pleased with himself. Making her take a bath worked out in the end after all. And if the bath thing doesn’t work in helping her relax, he’s pretty sure he can think of another way to relieve some tension that is definitely more fun than a bath.

**Author's Note:**

> main tumblr: keiraknighted  
> fic tumblr: arysafics


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